The Weekly Armchair

Kiwis Announce Their 2019 Super Squads
Thirty-three new players feature among the 190 professional players contracted by New Zealand’s five Super Rugby franchises for the 2019 season.
The five New Zealand based Super Rugby franchises, the Blues, Chiefs, Wellington, Crusaders and...

36-Man Springbok Squad for November Tour.
There are no real surprises in the November Tour Springbok squad announced by Rassie Erasmus. The squad includes a trio of uncapped players, and recalls for a couple of others, all pretty much as...

Rassie's End-Of-Year Bok Practice Squad
The 107-capped Tendai “the Beast” Mtawarira will miss the end-of-year Springbok tour to the north due to an injury that he picked up in the last Rugby Championships Test against the All Blacks. He is...

Rugby Championship Preview: New Zealand.
Steve Hansen might be suggesting that the Wallabies are the favourites to win the Bledisloe and Rugby Championship trophies, but that simply is not true. The All Blacks remain the Number 1 team in world rugby,...

World Rugby Hall Of Fame
World Rugby has announced that five legends of the game in Liza Burgess (Wales), Stephen Larkham (Australia), Ronan O’Gara (Ireland), Pierre Villepreux (France) and Bryan Williams (New Zealand) will be inducted into the World Rugby...

SANZAAR To Review The TMO!!!
I very much doubt whether any of SANZAAR’s suits have read any of my frequent complaints about their officials and match officiating faux pas and match-influencing blunders. They are far too busy and important to...

What is Wrong in Australia?
A series loss to England in 2016, followed by losses to Ireland and England again at the end of that year. Losing to Scotland twice and England once again in 2017. A series loss to...

It’s Broken! Fix It!
When you see a storm brewing outside, when those heavy bellied purple clouds are stacking up, and the lightning is flashing continuously as the thunder gets louder and louder, closer and closer, you would be a...